Malls

I really dislike that the Cherry Hill Mall and Echelon Mall have been getting revamped. I'm kind of sad that I never got to get a chance to take photos of the old interiors. My favorite parts of these malls were the older feeling parts. When Strawbridges closed down, it left an empty slot in the Cherry Hill Mall. I believe that is part that is currently being redone. That whole corner was sort of fabulously out of place. When I looked at it, it looked like the past. There was that huge escalator and balcony thingie. Similary, Echelon Mall had an older area like that too- I clearly remember that area being decorated for Christmas. I think it's all gone now. There was the Cherry Hill Grill in the Cherry Hill Mall that is now the Bistro. They do serve yummy food but I still remember when it was the CHG. I hope they will keep that there. I even remember the Cherry Hill Mall having a Woolworth's. I also remember Woodstown having a Woolworth's.

Two quick but awesome Woolworth's stories: One, the one in the Cherry Hill Mall was distinct because like many old drugstores, this one sold outdated materials. I remember getting Golden Girls (the She-Ra fakes, not the old ladies) coloring books way after their prime. Sadly, my mom threw them away one day just because they got wet. A slew of wonderous paperdolls and coloring books were thrown away that day. Luckily, I was able to salvage some ballerina paperdolls. Yes, when something I love is thrown into the trash, I am willing to dive in and save it. Don't even ask me how many times I've done this before because it's just embaressing.

Second story: Okay, so I remember Woodstown's Woolworths quite fondly. Woodstown was on the list of little downtowns that my mom would take me to on a Saturday afternoon for lunch and shopping. There was and maybe still is an antique store that we did shop in and also a diner. One day, my mom took me there with my grandmom. After lunch, we walked the main strip, ending up in Woolworth's. I honestly felt like I had entered a time warp. Everything was so dated and old and creepy, including the weird androgynous lady who worked there. She wore a smock. I ended up buying NIP doll clothes that were suitable for a Dawn doll. I never opened them but I did sell them at Cowtown about 3 years ago. Then I saw them in a Dawn price guide, so I knew they were authentically old. I'm pretty sure that Woolworths is gone but I do remember telling my mom and grandmom how I felt like we went back in time. Maybe we did, if even for a moment.

The thing is, all these places are sadly disappearing. People think its better to have our new and improved malls, but they won't be so great. Why do we need another Juicy Couture or White House Black Market? I mean, what makes those places special is that there is only one of them and that they are far far away. When the special becomes common, what is so special about it? What is special are those rare little gems like the old Woolworths and the vintagy corners of the malls that are now tragically gone.

It's like what I wrote the other night, where the small towns are dying down and it just kind of sucks. I remember when my mom and I discovered Collingswood for the first time. It was pure bliss. We were looking for the Friends in Deed thrift store, and we found it and many other treasures. This was all before Collingswood was the hip restaraunt town that it is now too. There were two thrift stores, an antique store, and an 80s toy store I kid you not. Seriously, that was my favorite place- this lady owned the store and sold strictly toys from the 80s. Anyway, we spent this beautiful November day shopping and enjoying ourselves. I remember capping the day off with a very nice visit with Lori. It was one of those days that just sticks out in my mind because it was so perfect. And then, so crappily, one by one, all of my favorite shops there began to disappear until only one thrift store was left, and it's not even the good one, it's the one that is just okay. Now Collingswood is just so blah, another trendy place to go and eat. Oh yay.

People used to rely on their downtowns because we didn't have malls. The Cherry Hill mall was one of the first in the area. Cherry Hill was one of the first pretty developed areas. Maybe we should blame all of this developmentness on them for starting it all in the first place. Anyway, pretty much every town in South Jersey has a downtown area that included a Woolworths or similar scale store, a movie theater, a diner, and several other small stores. Then these all got replaced by malls. People went to malls for their goods, and these small towns either suffered or got transferred into little art towns, which isn't such a terrible thing, it's just that it's not the same. I would have really liked to experience shopping in this- a soda fountain, a dress store, an afternoon film. I'm not afraid of change, but I just don't think that everything needs to be some overproduced, same type of place. Let's all do the same thing each weekend. Let's eat at the same places and forget any flavors. South Jersey was so unique, and now, it might be like any other cosmopolitan area, because people can't just travel to the city anymore. It's too far.

At least in Philadelphia building exteriors are salvaged and valued. The Ross on 8th and Market for instance, while on the inside is indeed a Ross, the outside remains the same as it was when it was another store years ago. It's kind of what lured me to Philly in the first place. Everything looked very steampunk- I was impressed by those buildings and the architecture and the way they looked against the grey cloudless skies. I felt like the heroine of a graphic novel.

In New Jersey, it's all about knocking everything down and starting fresh. It's why we don't have the red Custard shack anymore and we have Starbucks and Coldstone. It's why Delsea Drive will soon be the next Route 73. Everything changes and instead of preserving history, we decide to ignore it and pretend it never happened.

It all just makes me long for the past, for a simpler time and place.